Pang De of Shu
by cubefreak123
Summary: Illness brought Pang De to Cao Cao, but what if he never got sick and stayed with Ma Chao? One small event throws the Three Kingdoms for a ride in this What if tale. Please post reviews, I wanna know how to improve the story
1. Humble Beginnings

_Disclaimer: As much as I wish that I did, I don't own any rights to the Dynasty Warriors games, the book Romance of the Three Kingdoms, or any characters thereabout. _

Hello all Dynasty Warriors fans! This is a simple tale about what if Pang De fought for Shu. Contrary to what the game says, Pang De only fought for Wei because he got sick after loosing at Tong Gate and was captured by Cao Cao. At the battle of Mt. Ding Jun, Pang De saved Cao Cao's life from Wei Yan; just thought I'd get the back-story out. Thanks and enjoy.

_Truly there is no ironic tale like that of Pang De, a warrior so strong that he fought Cao Cao's best generals to a standstill, was brought down by something a millionth of his size. But what if he was affected by it? What if he never fell ill and instead was able to stay with Ma Chao after his retreat at Tong Gate?_

Ma Chao, Pang De and their remaining troops were fleeing Tong Gate. Ma Chao was unable to destroy Cao Cao and avenge his father, and even worse, he had lost his territory. Luckily, he still had his cousin Ma Dai, his friend Pang De, and his health. As they stopped to rest Ma Chao heard Pang De coughing; "You alright? Sounds like you could be getting sick." Ma Chao said.

"No, it's nothing I can't handle." Pang De replied, "Where should we go now? We've lost a lot of our men; Cao Cao will surely pursue and destroy us if we stay."

"I have thought about this too and have decided to ride south. Surely there is someone willing to take in ones such as us." Ma Chao stated.

"Very well, I shall tell the men." said Pang

As he walked away, Ma Chao watched Pang De leave and thought to himself,_ We may yet still play a vital role in this age of chaos, and I'm glad I have such capable officers on my side as him._

Two years pass, Liu Bei has invaded Shu, Ma Chao and his men have joined Zhang Lu and now are set to attack Liu Bei's forces at Chiaming Pass. After several battles with Zhang Fei and a false accusation against Ma Chao by Zhuge Liang, Ma Chao submits to Liu Bei.

Many more months pass, Liu Bei takes control of Shu and begins his attack on Han Zhong. Huang Zhong scores a series of victories against Zhang He, captures Mt. Ding Jun, and kills Xiahou Yuan. Cao Cao in his anger goes to retaliate and comes across Liu Bei's army that only results in more losses. Now Cao Cao is besieged by Ma Chao and has marched out only to meet Wei Yan.

"Surrender Wei Yan!" Cao Cao called out to him. Wei Yan only shouted back abuse and foul words. So Xiahou Dun went out to fight Wei Yan and the two fought to a standstill. All of a sudden a soldier came and told Cao Cao that his camps were captured by Ma Chao's army. Not wanting to deal with desertion, Cao Cao drew his sword and yelled "Death to any officer who flinches!"

Cao Cao's men fought valiantly and Wei Yan pretended to be defeated. Cao Cao turned to face off with Ma Chao until Wei Yan appeared and charged Cao Cao's army. Wei Yan shot an arrow that hit Cao on the top of his lip, causing him to fall. Pulling out his sword, Wei Yan rushed up the hill to his downed victim. "DIE!" Wei Yan shouted, as his sword came down and removed Cao Cao's head.


	2. Wei response

_ Review from the last chapter: Pang De is fighting for Shu and Wei Yan has just decapitated Cao Cao. Now on with Chapter 2 _

Cao Cao's soldiers could only stare in a mixture of horror and disbelief at what they had just witnessed. The man who had for so long avoided death, destroyed so many of his opponents, and controlled the Emperor had just been killed in battle.

Wei Yan picked up his trophy, turned to Cao Cao's troops and proclaimed "Surrender now, for I have destroyed your leader!" Many surrendered, others fled, but the most loyal troops stayed and fought for their fallen lord.

Xiahou Dun quickly rallied the remaining troops and ordered a retreat. However, they did not get far before being confronted by and army led by Ma Chao and Pang De. Xiahou Dun realized that Wei Yan would soon come to destroy them and denied a challenge set forth by Pang De and turned his men to escape. The men from Shu attacked and the losses were heavy for the late Cao's men.

Dun eventually led the men to their remaining camp, where a meeting was soon called.

"They have killed our lord and dealt us a devastating blow. We will soon loose the district and with things as they are, we do not stand a chance." Said Cao Hong.

Zhang He then said "What are we to do then? They are in possession of our former lord's body and are aware of his death. They will soon press the attack; I say that we fall back."

Xhu Zhu pulled out his sword and pointed it at Zhang He and said "Our lord would have you killed for saying that, so tell me why I should not."

Yang Hsiu responded "Because he knows that Cao Cao did not pick an appropriate heir before he died. Yuan Shao faced a similar dilemma which led to his downfall; we must not let the same thing happen to us."

Xiahou Dun heard all this and said "Very well; for now we shall pull back and solidify our positions elsewhere, to keep Liu Bei from stealing too much land. Xu Huang, you shall cover our rear, Zhang He, Xhu Zhu will cover the flanks, and Cao Hong and I shall take the center. Once we get to a more secure position, I shall ride to the capital and sort out the matter of who should be an appropriate leader." He looked at all of the generals, "I don't know what shall happen in these coming times, but we must not loose faith in our lord's ambitions. Be ready to move by the second watch tonight."

The generals all nodded in agreement and got up and left. At the second watch the camp was all packed up and the army set off. Xiahou Dun rode his horse and thought to himself; _What shall we do now? With Cao Cao gone we are will be attacked from Sun Quan, Liu Bei, and whatever conflicts will surely come up in the capital. _Xiahou Dun sighed, _How can we survive this?_


	3. Closure

_Review from last chapter: Xiahou Dun and the other officer's retreat and Xiahou Dun says he will ride for the capital to choose an appropriate heir to Cao Cao._

When Wei Yan killed Cao Cao and forced back Xiahou Dun, he soon met up with Ma Chao and his troop.

"Wei Yan, it seems that you have broken the enemies back. They all looked hopeless and panic-stricken, how did you do this?" asked Ma Chao.

"It was because of this." Said Wei Yan, who then lifted a bag and showed him the head of Cao Cao. The shock of seeing this nearly knocked Ma Chao off of his horse.

"By the heavens!" Ma Chao said getting a closer look at the head. "This mark on the lip, he must have suffered some before he died." Ma Chao fell silent for a moment. "Where is his body?" He asked.

"Over on the hill," Wei Yan pointed the way he had come. "Only about 3 _li_ away."

Ma Chao thanked Wei Yan and rode off with Pang De to see the body. They searched among the bodies for only a short time before Pang De called out, "Over here!"

Both men stood over Cao Cao's body. Then, all of sudden, Ma Chao started to kick and beat at the body. "Damn you! You insult me, kill my father and much of my family, and take my land, and you don't even give me the chance to kill you myself!" Ma Chao started to beat it savagely, even stabbing it through the heart with his spear. Pang De only watched, allowing Ma Chao to vent his anger, which had piled up for so long.

Finally, Pang De put his hand on his friend's shoulder, "Calm yourself, he's dead. Your father and so many others have been avenged." Although he was saying this Pang De couldn't help but think, _Cao Cao was supposed to be a great tactician and leader, and yet he fell to someone like Wei Yan. Perhaps he is not as great as the stories say._

After a few deep breaths Ma Chao calmed down. He looked at Pang De and said "Come, let us return to camp. There will surely be celebration going on after this battle; but first…" Ma Chao brought his horse over to him and tied the body to it. "If I can't take his life, then I'll at least degrade him." To this Pang De could only nod and the two rode off for their camp.


	4. Hope, faith, and vengeance

_Review from last chapter: Ma Chao and Pang De found Cao Cao's body and Ma Chao beat it up. They ride off to their camp._

Liu Bei was talking with Zhuge Liang (Kungming) when a soldier rushed in, saying that Wei Yan had taken Cao Cao's head. Liu Bei froze and thought that he had misheard the soldier, but Wei Yan soon came in and threw the head of Cao Cao at Liu Bei's feet.

Wei Yan bowed his head and said "My lord, I present this gift to you."

Liu Bei was speechless at first; he thought that he may have been dreaming, but he then got up and with tears in his eyes, he had Wei Yan stand and took his hand. "Wei Yan, you have done a tremendous deed to the Han Empire. No reward can ever be too great to bestow upon you for this achievement." Wherefore a banquet was held in Wei Yan's honor and a great many gifts were given to the fierce warrior.

Liu Bei soon started a toast, saying "Men, this is a great new day. Wei Yan has killed the villan Cao Cao, and Huang Zhong has helped to liberate Han Zhong. Soon the Han shall be restored thanks to all of our efforts." He scanned the room, looking at the faces of the men gathered about him, "And I know that with capable men like you, it will never fall into such dark times again."

The men cheered and drank after those words. Not long afterwards, there was a ruckus outside, Liu Bei and the other guests went to see what was going on and saw Ma Chao and Pang De entering the camp, dragging Cao Cao's body behind their horses. They dismounted and cut the body loose.

The sight of this sickened some guests and others cheered Ma Chao. Embarrassed by his generals actions, Liu Bei marched up to Ma Chao and said furiously "What are you doing! What could have inspired you to commit such an act?"

Ma Chao merely said "This man was an enemy to the Empire. He was responsible for killing my father and much of the rest of my family; he killed the Empress, and has almost killed you quite a number of times before too. You even said yourself that he was a scoundrel and a rebel, and I believe that he deserves this."

Liu Bei did not know what to do; he knew that Ma Chao's words rang true but Liu Bei had been shown kindness from Cao Cao in the past and that despite the way he acted, he deserved better than that. Liu Bei started to open his mouth but before he could say anything someone came up behind him and said "You speak truth Ma Chao."

Liu Bei whirled around and saw Zhuge Liang standing there. "Zhuge…what do you mean? Surely you don't…" He was cut off when Zhuge started to speak again

"However, this is not a proper course of action. Surely there are those in this world who would think to do the same to you if you died in battle." Kungming said, now addressing both Ma Chao and Liu Bei. "Instead of torturing a lifeless body, we must send both the head and body back to Chang An. Cao Cao's family and closest generals would not stop until they retrieved it."

"So I am to go without avenging my father then?" Asked Ma Chao with glaring eyes

"From the looks of things it seems that you have indeed exacted quite a bit of vengeance upon him." Zhuge said looking at the body.

Liu Bei stepped forward and said that they would follow Kungming's advice and had someone take the body away. He then turned to Ma Chao and made as if to have him executed, but many of the banquet's guests came and begged their lord to reconsider. Liu Bei consented and reduced Ma's punishment to 20 lashes and had him removed from his sight.

The banquet continued on a somber note and was soon ended. Liu Bei sat in his tent and was grief-stricken because of the punishment that he had to inflict upon one of his favorite officers. However, Zhuge Liang came in, wishing to urgently speak with him.

"My lord," said Zhuge "I believe that we can deal a near fatal blow to the enemy forces if we act quickly."

"I'm listening." Liu Bei said. And Kungming told him of his plan.


	5. A new battle begins

_Review from last chapter: Wei Yan presents Cao Cao's head to Liu Bei. During a banquet Ma Chao and Pang De come in with Cao Cao's body in their wake. Ma Chao is punished and Zhuge Liang reveals his plan to Liu Bei._

"Tell me Master Liang, what is your plan?" Liu Bei said with earnest.

"This defeat will be a harsh defeat for Wei, but they may yet regain their strength. So I have devised a plan to prolong this victory of ours." Kungming said.

Kungming continued, "Our enemy will fall back to a safer position tonight and be gone by the morning. We shall attack them as they retreat, when they are most vulnerable. There are several side roads leading out to Chang An and to the Yong Zhou Territory." Kungming pulled out a map of the area, "We shall block the roads and set several ambush parties along the way, as to throw them into confusion and force them to go where we want them to. At this major intersection," he points to a crossroads, "we will send a force of veterans under Zhao Yun to hit them head on and divide their forces. With this, we can focus our attention on where to attack next."

When he was finished, Liu Bei cried, "Surely I would have long been lost without your intellect great strategist."

To this Zhuge Liang only bowed and said "What little intelligence I possess is nothing next to the great deeds and nobility of my lord."

After a moment had passed, Liu Bei looked at the map. "They are sure to cover their escape with their best officers defending all sides of their formation. Who should lead our troops against such forces?"

"It is a simple matter." Replied Zhuge Liang. "Our enemy's moral is low and there are sure to be plenty of troops ready to submit to us. However, we must not be overconfident, that is how Cao Cao met his end." Kungming stopped for a moment and drew several characters on the map. "They will flee eastward, so their best officers will surely be at the front and rear of their formation. A force under Ma Chao and Huang Zhong will attack from the south. Wei Yan and Zhang Fei, with Wang Ping as a guide, will hit them from the north. Zhao Yun, as I previously have said, will hit them from the front."

Liu Bei interrupted and asked "Then who shall attack from behind?"

Zhuge Liang looked at him, "That shall be led by you, me, and Pang De."

Liu Bei approved of the plan and set about appointing it immediately.

By the second watch all the ambush parties were set and the only thing left was to wait for the Wei forces to come, but it wasn't a long wait.

After the enemy had passed them, Liu Bei, by himself, rode to the top of a nearby hill and yelled to the whole enemy army, "Attention soldiers of Wei. I shall give you one chance to submit, or you shall die."

To this only silence was heard, not a single man moved. After a short moment Liu Bei yelled again "So be it. May heaven have mercy on you."

Liu Bei rode down the hill and signal bomb was exploded. Fire arrows rained from the sky and set fire to the ground that the Wei troops were standing on, causing massive casualties and throwing the men into confusion.

Xu Huang tried to rally his men and forced his men to move forward. Suddenly a force under Pang De charged at the enemy formation.

The battle of Ye Valley had begun.


	6. Heroism and Cowardice

((Sorry I haven't written in awhile; life's gotten in the way and I've been lazy, you all know how it is.))

_Review from the last chapter: Liu Bei asks Kungming what his plan is and he tells it. As the Wei forces come by they fall into several ambush parties and the fight is about to begin._

Pang De charged at Xu Huang's position with his cavalry. Realizing that he was in no condition to put up a proper fight, Xu Huang pulled his men back into the bulk of the Wei formation and soon met up with one, Cao Hong.

"What is going on?" Cao asked Huang in confusion.

"The enemy is attacking us from the rear, we have to reinforce our position and hasten onwards to Chang An." Huang said.

Cao told his men to fall back and support Huang's bewildered men but no sooner did they move into position and prepare for an attack, they heard the beating of war drums and Ma Chao and Huang Zhong came barreling down on the Wei forces.

Cao Hong and Xu Huang watched in horror as their men scattered or surrendered in droves. Cao however had seen enough and yelled, "The next man to abandon his post will have to face me!" Shocked by this new statement the men of Wei stayed their ground.

The two sides soon clashed and the fighting was fierce. Ma Chao rode his men through the enemy formation and began to attack the men who were trying to hold off Pang De's men. This move proved to be as malevolent as it was affective as Ma Chao's men were beginning to get overwhelmed and their morale dropped greatly, Ma Chao tried to rally his men but an archer shot him in the shoulder and he fell from his horse.

Ma Chao's men rushed forth and tried desperately to defend their fallen commander and fought their way out of the fray and managed to get Ma on another horse and rode him out of the battle as his men continued to fiercely fight their opponents.

Huang Zhong however had better luck than his comrade, riding into the heart of the enemy he kept his men together and overwhelmed their opponents with a superior number of troops. Cao Hong met Huang in battle and they fought over three score of bouts with neither gaining the upper-hand.

Xu Huang, who felt that Cao could not win this fight, sent messengers to report that they were under heavy attack and needed reinforcements immediately. After the messenger had departed Xu Huang grabbed an arrow and while Cao Hong and Huang Zhong were taking a short rest from their fight, shot an arrow at the aged officer. The arrow flew through the air but a strong wind came up and diverted the arrow so that it missed Huang's heart but struck his steed in the neck.

The animal cried out and fell to the ground; Huang turned to Cao Hong in a rage and yelled, "You dare try to kill me with such dishonor!" Grabbing another horse he charged Cao Hong with newfound ferocity.

Cao tried to call out that he had no intention of trying such a cowardly thing but had no time to continue to plead with Huang as the old man was coming down on him hard. Cao pulls the reigns on his horse and meets Huang in combat and after only ten bouts Cao is knocked from his horse and made prisoner.

After taking his prize, Huang Zhong ordered his men to cease their advance and regroup

Xu Huang watched in horror as Cao Hong fell and he ordered a full retreat. The men of Wei turned tail and ran with the Shu forces nipping at their heels the whole time. Xu Huang led his men onward till they met up with Zhang He and Xhu Zhu and told of the fate that had befallen himself and that of Cao Hong.

Xiahou Dun soon came riding up to them at full speed. "Xu Huang! I am told that you have come under heavy attack." He looked around and asked where Cao Hong was and Xu Huang lamented, "He has fallen prisoner to the enemy officer Huang Zhong, the same one who slayed your kinsman Xiahou Yuan."

Duns let out a yell of rage and insisted on attacking the enemy formation and make them pay for this embarrassment but was stopped by Zhang He, "If we attack them we will surely loose." Zhang waved his hand at the landscape, "This is all a plot made by Liu Bei's strategist Kungming. We must get off of this road and take little known routes to the capital; knowing our enemy there will surely be more surprises waiting for us."

Xiahou Dun listened intently and after a moment nodded his head and ordered a map brought to him. He looked at the map and saw that they had indeed stumbled into an area that would have made it quite easy to be ambushed at. Dun had several locals brought to him and he asked them what secret roads led out of the area towards the capital.

An elderly man by the name of Hsin Chuang spoke up and said, "Yes, I know of one such road. It is a mere 25 li from this place," He pointed to the north. "A secretive road that goes through a thick wooded area but it empties out right by the River Wei and is not far from Jie Ting. Surely from there you will be able to get a ferry and transport your men down river to Chang An."

Xiahou Dun graciously thanked the man and gave him gold and some cattle as a reward for helping them. The men of Wei continued their trek fighting minor skirmishes with the Shu forces. Soon the Wei forces came upon the road that Hsin Chuang had talked about, "Fortune seems to finally be smiling upon us." Zhang He said as the men began flowing into the road but soon a great commotion was heard and Wei Yan and Zhang Fei were said to be attacking the army's flank. Zhang He grabbed the reigns of his horse, turned to the other officers and said, "Go on, we'll hold them off long enough for you to get out of here."

Xiahou Dun nodded in agreement and moved on with the majority of the army. Zhang He rode down the road he had just ridden down to face the enemy and noticed that Xhu Zhu was coming up behind him. "I can't let you go alone." Xhu said with an assuring tone in his voice, Zhang He smiled and rode on.


End file.
